


Throw a Bone, I'm Finally Home

by apanoplyofsong



Series: let your heart be light [9]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Dogs, F/M, Neighbors, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-09 23:04:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8916568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apanoplyofsong/pseuds/apanoplyofsong
Summary: Bellamy may have been letting Octavia watch a few too many Christmas specials.He hadn’t counted on her kidnapping the neighbor’s dog and turning it into Rudolph.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous asked: "A fic where Clarke and Bellamy are neighbours. The little sister of Bellamy got obsessed with the movie rudolph and she have dressed Clarke's dog as rudolph so he has to knock on her door and apologize."
> 
> Like a lot of the fandom, I have issues with Octavia's recent actions/the way they were treated, so her role is pretty minimized here.  
> Title from "Christmas is Going to the Dogs."

Bellamy would be the first to admit that his life is a bit of a mess. His job is great, but it can leave him exhausted. He hasn’t been on a date in almost two years. He’s still not entirely used to being his little sister’s sole guardian, and every time in the past year he’s thought he might have a grasp on it, circumstances have changed enough for the feeling to slip through his fingers.

But it’s not so much of a mess to leave him uncertain about the fact that the fawn-colored Great Dane sitting contentedly in his kitchen doesn’t belong to him.

It’s probably at least a little bit his fault. There’s more students staying after school with the end of the semester and his hours are longer than usual, but Octavia is wired on the holidays and continued rebellion coursing through her adjustment. So, well...he may be taking advantage of Christmas specials a little too fervently.

They’re just so _easy_ and _convenient_ and he doesn’t have to worry about Octavia getting into anything too devious as a result of absorbing them for hours at a time.

At least, he didn’t think so.

He hadn’t counted on her kidnapping the neighbor’s dog and turning it into Rudolph.

The dog thumps its tail happily, coming up to sniff at the leg of his jeans. The red dot perched on its nose tumbles off but the dog just turns under Bellamy’s touch, leans most of its considerable weight against him, and pants amicably.

“Octavia?”

There’s no answer, just a scuffle of boots down the back hallway as he rubs the dog’s fur absently. Two twigs are strapped to its head as antlers and he frowns, scratches underneath the dangling jowls. There’s a woven strap around its neck and he twists it around in search of a tag--Bellamy’s pretty sure the collar is almost as big as his belt, but it yields a reward: a dangling green bone, stamped with _Ruby_ in block letters.

“Where do you belong, Ruby?”

Ruby doesn’t answer, just lets her tongue loll out of her mouth with a giant dollop of slobber.

Bellamy sighs. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

His search for Octavia proves fruitless, just a hastily scrawled note stuck to the back door about working on a project at Zoe’s found a minute after it slams. He knows it’s true, but studying doesn’t usually involve leaving behind a dog that doesn’t belong to them. Pulling up Craigslist, he’s absently scrolling the lost pets section, wondering what to do with a dog the size of a horse for the night when he’s saved from his contemplations by a hurried knocks on the door.

The woman on the other side is so frantic, frazzled, that it takes him a moment to recognize her as his neighbor.

Bellamy doesn’t know much about the woman who lives next door. He’s seen her in passing--blonde and about his age, pretty and seemingly always partially distracted. The little lawn in front of her house is usually well-kept, she sometimes leaves her trash can out for a full day after pick up, and whatever barks from behind the fence is considerate enough to only do so midday.

And, now, that her eyes are blue and large and piercingly bright through their veil of stress.

“Have you seen my dog?” The words come out so quickly that Bellamy just stares. She visibly braces, inhaling and exhaling in a long rush, and sounds slightly more composed when she speaks again. “Sorry. I’m Clarke, I live next door. My dog is missing and I was wondering if you’ve seen her. The gate--”

Ruby chooses that moment to let out a deep bark and lope out of the kitchen, her paws padding across the space in three giant steps. Clarke immediately drops to her knees, cooing and fussing, and Bellamy has to push the door open wider to avoid getting knocked off-balance by the enthusiasm of Ruby’s wagging tail. It also offers him a perfect vantage point to see the moment Clarke goes from relieved to wary, pulling back and tilting her head.

“Is she...dressed as a reindeer?”

Bellamy rubs the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah, Rudolph actually. There was a nose.”

“Did you already have a red nose waiting to be put on your neighbor’s dog? Did you take my dog with the express purpose of turning her into Rudolph?” Her eyes narrow. “Are you the actual Grinch? You know he uses his own dog for that, right? Even he doesn’t steal a _dog_.”

“No, no. I think the nose was cut out of a paper plate, actually.”

Clarke blinks at him as she stands. “Yeah, okay, I’m going to need more of an explanation to this.”

“That’s fair. Want to…?” He motions behind him and she steps through the door, pushing Ruby out of the way so she trails along at his side. “Do you want some coffee, hot chocolate? I was just about to make some when, well.”

She snorts. “Yeah, I might as well get some sugar out of all this.”

He pulls out two mugs and sets a pot of almond milk to simmer. When he turns back, she’s watching him, cheeks a little flushed, and he’s not sure whether it’s from the cold outside or from being caught. She glances down either way. “So, as glad as I am that she’s safe, do you want to tell me why you have my dog?”

“I don’t actually know. You said something about the gate?”

“It looked like the latch froze, so I figured the wind knocked the gate open somehow.”

“My best guess is that Ruby got out and my sister saw her. She’s, uh...” Bellamy licks his lips, sighs. It’s difficult to think of the right word to describe Octavia, her wildness and wonder and importance all at once. “She’s 12 and, well, mischievous on occasion. And she knows we can’t have a dog but wants one anyway, so I have a feeling she took advantage of the situation and got a bit carried away. I came home to Rudolph here.”

Bellamy pours them each a cup of hot chocolate and sets one in front of her on the counter. Clarke takes a sip, pushing Ruby’s nose away when she comes to investigate. She’s quiet for long enough that he starts to feel jittery and is almost grateful when the dog comes to nudge against his hip, searching out attention from him instead.

“Well, I guess I can’t blame her,” Clarke finallys says. “Ruby is pretty tempting. You seem awfully calm for someone who came home to a Dane-deer in his living room, though.”

Bellamy snorts to smother his smile. “She was in my kitchen.”

“That explains it.”

He grins and Clarke grins back and somehow they just keep talking, about Ruby and Octavia and the holidays and themselves. Bellamy doesn’t realize half an hour has passed until Ruby paws at her head, antler knocking against a cabinet loudly.

“Shit, sorry, Rubes.” Clarke unties the string and gathers the sticks in her hand, scratching a spot under the dog’s chin. “We should probably go. But tell your sister she’s welcome to come hang out with Ruby anytime.” She pauses, glances at him with a smile that makes his heart trip. “You are, too.”

He ducks his head, pleased, as he lets them out the door.

“We’ll probably take you up on that.”

 

* * *

 

The next Christmas, the three of them buy Ruby felt antlers actually intended for dogs and send out a Christmas card just to show them off.

Clarke’s laughing at Bellamy in the picture they choose, leaning into his side as Octavia grins next to Ruby’s head with an arm thrown around the dog’s neck. Everyone’s a little blurry in the rush of the self-timer but he loves it. It makes him feel warm, overwhelmed just looking at it--the way his sister seems less heavy than the years before, the way Clarke is all lit up from within.

The way he gets to have all of it.

He’s more than a little obvious, he knows, but Bellamy can’t bring himself to care. If the world can tell how much he loves Clarke just by looking at that picture, if they can see the adoration he knows is shining back on her face, well.

He doesn’t mind getting to show that off at all.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://apanoplyoffic.tumblr.com) and also [a picture](http://mythicaldanes.com/danes/images/carting/parade700453.jpg) of a Great Dane reindeer for your enjoyment


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